Can someone please explain what the A means, who gets which one, what is the difference etc. I do not get the A and what that means. All I've seen are insinuations that it is not something you want
The 'A' means 'Apprentice' level and you get that until you have two years of experience. The Andrews School course satisfies the requirements to get one of those two years removed. You need experience working as a medical coder to get the other one off. For those who already have medical coding experience before getting the CPC, it isn't an issue.
Now for the negative implications. Some people on forums believe the 'A' is why they aren't getting jobs. It is true that when an employer is looking for an experienced coder and see that 'A' it means they don't qualify for that job. HOWEVER, I'm seeing (and hearing from) people who had partial training in very short courses, just enough to pass the CPC but not enough to pass employment tests. That is the bigger problem. We have many graduates who got jobs before they even got their CPC-A, so I don't believe that's the main problem. The problem is knowing how to code or, as one person coming from another course said, "They taught me how to pass the CPC exam but I can't code from scratch, only if it's multiple choice." Lots of that going around these days, and I believe that is the main reason those people can't pass employment tests and get or keep jobs.
Its been really scary to see on forums such as Jobs for American Coders all the people who apparently can't get jobs.. but I have noticed that I have never seen an Andrew graduate complaining on there about having a lousy education and not being able to find a job as a result...
Linda, you recently posted the statistics of how many of your graduates pass the CCS. Do you have statistics on how many of your graduates have jobs say, within six months of graduation?
I don't have solid statistics on that. Usually most graduates get jobs within three months of graduation, sometimes even before they graduate. There are times when lots of employers are hiring and graduates will get as many as 3 or 4 job offers and other times, like the end of the year when things are dead. At the end of the year employers' hiring budgets have run out for the year and besides, who wants to start a new employee right before the holidays, right? Then again, sometimes they do. I have been surprised and even shocked at the number of jobs people have managed to get in November and December even when it appeared that nobody was hiring. Because I am a very dramatic person, every year I think, "It's all over. Nobody will EVER hire any of our graduates again." Then...they do. Big time. Lots of jobs. {sigh} but I will go through it all again next year, because that's what I do. In other words, while our graduates are suffering through the "Will anyone ever hire me" part of the job search, I go through it with all of you---every time. By the way, I've been going through this EVERY YEAR since 1989, so you would think I would have more confidence that the jobs will be there. Be patient. It always happens. But, I don't.